


Puppy underground

by kyvel



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, I haven't actually played Dirge of Cerberus... why am I doing this?, Post-Crisis Core (Compilation of FFVII), Zack Fair Lives
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-26
Updated: 2020-03-26
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:28:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23326261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kyvel/pseuds/kyvel
Summary: After his final stand against Shinra's army, Zack's wounds are too deep to heal on their own. He should die by all means – but something doesn't allow him to. Unfortunately, there are people that have been looking for him and they were faster than the Turks: Deepground wants more Soldiers and Zack seems to be the perfect candidate.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 13





	Puppy underground

Zack didn't know, how long he drifted in and out of consciousness and what happened around him. All he knew was, that he had no strength left and breathing felt like hell. Dozens of bullets had dug deep into his chest – too many to heal the damage caused by them without any Materia. Zack could already feel the cold creep into his limbs and part of him expected the embrace of death, but it didn't come. It was, as if something inside of him didn't allow it. Was it determination that kept him alive? The wish to be back at Aerith's side? To protect Cloud? Or something that this bastard Hojo had done to him? He didn't know it and didn't have the power to think about it either.

Being in the state he was, he didn't even realize how somebody picked him up until he was finally awoken by sharp pain in his chest as somebody tossed him over his shoulders. The clanking sound of steps on a metal floor filled the air – a sound that reminded of the past, when he had roamed the lower floors of Shinra.

“We were told to be careful with him,” a young girl's voice rang through Zack's ears, the words barely understandable and strangely robot-like. “I only healed his wounds enough so he won't die on us. Don't kill him with your roughness.”

“Yeah, yeah,” another voice growled back. It sounded much deeper, almost as if a beast had learned the human language. “He'll survive, don't bother.”

“Who... who are you? And where are you taking me?”

Zack had managed to regain enough of his strength to slur a few words. The man that carried him down a sterile corridor had to be absolutely huge – that guy's back was at least twice as broad as Zack. He also managed to catch a blurry glimpse of a young girl in a strange gray suit walking behind them. She couldn't be much older than maybe nine years.

“You are already awake?” the girl said, coming a bit closer, so that Zack managed to take a look of her face. His heart skipped a beat, when he saw the bright glow of Mako in her blue eyes. A girl her age shouldn't have any enhancements yet, it was way too dangerous. “You are a fascinating man, Zack Fair. No wonder they wanted you for Deepground.”

“Deepground?” Zack's voice was barely more than a hoarse whisper.

“President Shinra want's you to become a member, now that you're of no more use for Hojo,” the girl continued without even acknowledging his other questions.

“Hojo...?”

Zack's heart started to race at the mention of the scientist, who had conducted his experiments on him and Cloud for four years – until Zack had finally managed to escape. What did she mean by that? Was Zack back at Shinra after all the trouble he had gone through? But they had tried to kill him, why was he back here? To become one of their experiments once again? And what had happened to Cloud?

Zack's heart sank when he thought of Cloud. It had taken his friend so long to wake up from his comatose state... Even though Zack had been on the verge of death on those cliffs, he had been happy to see his friend being okay. But was he really fine? Midgar had still been so far away and Cloud had been so weak and probably confused... Hopefully he had managed to get to safety.

“What –“ Zack didn't manage to answer any of his many questions, when a sudden flurry of banging sounds filled the air, accompanied by an awfully familiar angry cursing and awfully familiar voice.

“G is acting up again,” the tall man snarled and punched the metal door, from which the banging sounds came, in passing. “Shut up, you won't get out!” The noise didn't stop, though, and Zack looked at the door, trying to figure out, where he knew the voice from. He had regained his consciousness, but there was still some kind of fog over his senses that made it hard to recognize it definitely.

“Understandable, he is averse to creating more Tsviets. But don't bother. Soon, he'll fall asleep again,” the girl replied and the banging indeed became quieter as she talked. “His degradation has taken a great toll on him. He doesn't have the strength to resist for long.”

_Degradation? G?_

It seemed like the fog in Zack's head finally started to clear as he realized, who they had passed just now.

“Genesis?”

The banging completely stopped before he heard a faint “Zack?” from the other side of the door. Zack's heart started to pound. It was Genesis. The last time that Zack had seen the First, was in Banora, where he had left him in order to return to Midgar. Zack could understand, how those guys had caught himself if they were from Shinra. But how did they get a hold of Genesis?

“You bastards!” Genesis snarled completely outraged from the other side. “Don't you _dare_ turn him into one of you! If I get out of here...!”

“As if you could do anything,” the giant scoffed. Zack didn't hear any response, even if there was one. They were already too far away. “You're nothing but a caged bird right now.”

Zack fought against the hold of the man, trying to break free and make a run for it or at least get back to Genesis, but the man just tightened his grip around Zack's body. It was almost as if all of his Soldier-strength was gone and completely useless against this giant. He suddenly felt weak like a little child.

“What the hell do you want from us?”

“I said it already,” the girl answered and her demeanor was way too reserved for this situation. It sent a chill down Zack's spine. “the President wants more Soldiers for Deepground. That's why you and G are here. Nobody will look for you.”

“What do you mean by that? What the hell is Deepground? I don't –” Zack had to stop talking when the man carrying him came to a sudden halt. The abrupt movement made Zack see stars, since the wounds from his fight earlier weren't healed yet.

Zack heard a door being pushed open, before he was tossed into a dark room like a sack of potatoes. He quickly got back on his feet, completely disregarding the pain flooding his body as he rushed to the door, but it was already closed once he got there.

“Wait!” Zack banged against the door, putting all his remaining strength into the desperate action, but it was useless. The door didn't budge in the slightest and wasn't opened again, either. “Let me out, I have to –“

“You should concentrate your strength on regenerating your wounds,” the girl said, her voice being muffled by the thick metal door. “You'll want to be in a good condition when they come for you.”

**Author's Note:**

> This idea came over me while writing the 8th/9th chapter of “Crossing Parallels” and I just couldn't resist writing this down, even though I've sworn to limit myself with one story at the time. Those G Reports have no right to be so inspiring, being optional content in a game that I didn't even play myself...
> 
> I probably won't update this very often, since I want to come up with an interesting plot line first. I already have enough from my “Memories of the Lifestream”-series on my plate, too, but feel free to tell me, if you would be interested in more. I absolutely love exploring the vast consequences, that one simple change can have and this has some potential :)


End file.
